Mamma Mia Blu-ray Review

The musical spectacular shines even brighter in Blu.

Though ABBA wasn't known for having the most complex sound or clever lyrics, where silliness overwhelms story, the overall quality of the audio far makes up for anything lost in translation (from the original Swedish). The sound track is in constant motion throughout the system and even Brosnan's baritone resonates with incredible clarity and ease in the DTS HD Master Audio. Other options include English and Spanish DTS 5.1 with comparable abilities and flow as well as English SDH and French and Spanish subtitles. Overall, this disc won't let you down in any respect. It's digital sound is among the purest available and even the extra features in 2.0 Dolby Digital sound better than many DVDs can boast.

Score: 9 out of 10

Packaging and Extras

If there is anything to complain about on this disc it would be the amount of stuff they advertise on the back cover. Sure it makes sense that they want people to know just how incredible the Blu-ray is, but there is so much text on the back of the box that it almost seems daunting to pick up this disc and tackle all of the features this ever-growing technology generates. There are several text boxes for the bonus features, a graphic box for the video and audio options, lists of the numerous capabilities Mamma Mia! was among the first to use on Blu-ray and two miniscule screen shots that display more of what the pop-ups from the menu look like than the actual film itself. Other than the complaint that it takes days to get through all of the footage and features, this disc scores high, yet again, for it's incredible quality.

The Mamma Mia!Blu-ray features the following bonus materials:

My Scenes: A bookmarking profile that lets you highlight scenes and play your specified list of favorite clips

Sing-Along: Lets you choose which songs you want to have the lyrics for

Outtakes

Deleted Musical Number: "The Name of the Game"

The Making of Mamma Mia!

Anatomy of a Musical Number: "Lay All Your Love on Me"

Becoming a Singer

"A Look Inside Mamma Mia" featurette

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Music Video

Bjorn Ulvaeus Cameo

Feature Commentary with Director Phyllida Lloyd

Digital Copy for your iPod, Mac or PC

BD-Live (Blu-ray exclusive)

U-Control (Blu-ray Exclusive)

To start, the Sing-Along is maddening, not because the subtitles are too big or small, or really because they get in the way of anything, just because it reminds me of when I made the mistake of attending a "Sing-Along" screening of this film in theaters. It was the most obnoxious non-alcoholic public exhibition I had ever attended and while the Sing-Along in Blu-ray doesn't come with 100 menopausal women, the additional commotion is not necessary for those of us who choose to remain quiet during films. Play it at your own risk, you never know when a closet Mamma Mia fan will walk by your window and bust out in song!

The outtakes and deleted scenes total about 10 minutes and for the most part are scant versions of what the final product looks like. The "Making of" featurette has your standard mix of the conceptual process as well as a look from the filmmakers' perspective and then finally a third short piece from the actors' point of view. These are pretty interesting as they talk about the casting process and get pretty deep into how this film came to be, but the three pieces take about a half hour to get through, so pace yourself—there's more.

"Becoming a Singer" and "A Look Inside Mamma Mia!" have more of the same type of stuff, just much more in depth. We see Streep struggle through her voice lessons and Brosnan trying to get a handle on the song they created just for him. The music videos are pretty standard, but Bjorn's cameo looked like something straight out of Monty Python.

U-Control is a pretty amazing feature, one that I haven't come across before on Blu-ray and was a perfect addition for this particular film. It's great for Mamma Mia because it lets you choose if you want the picture-in-picture commentary and trivia game to run across specific scenes or if you just want pop-ups for the musical numbers. These are completely interactive features that give you access to additional behind-the-scenes interviews and are a pretty cool thing to check out when you run out of the more obvious cast commentaries and interviews on the main menu.

And last but not least, there is the director's commentary by Phyllida Lloyd, the original director of the stage play. Lloyd gives an incredible commentary. She is clever and complex and gives really great insights into the film, its roots and the cast. She doesn't miss a beat and even though she knows how frivolous this film is meant to appear, it is clear through her remarks that she knew exactly what she was doing even though this was her first big-budget motion picture.

Score: 9 out of 10

The Bottom Line

Like it or not, Mamma Mia! is one of the most outstanding films set to Blu-ray since its inception. The transfer is impossibly clear, the audio is at the height of technology and the bonus features are endless. It's not merely a musical transferred onto a solid disc format, but truly one of the most visually stunning films available.